Aloha.

Dear Reader(s),

Well, another year is over, another year has started. Another semester begins, new classes start, and I'm back. I'm like Arnie! Or the cat in Harry S. Miller's song! Well, I know not whether to be excited for this semester or to dread it, but none-the-less I am filled with a sense of excited trepidation.

Topic change! I am filled with sorrow that one of the university's most notable Medievalists will no longer be with us come September. Dr. Kwakkel, a man of no small skill, has not had his contract renewed by the university, and this summer will be returning to Holland/Netherlands/where Dutch people live to lead a research group concentrating on Medieval manuscripts, or so I understand. I am certain this must be a dream come true for him, and I wish him the best of luck and success, but it is a major loss to the university, especially for the History and Medieval Studies departments. Especially for us medievalists. Cheers, sir.

Ah, I forgot! Silly, wicked, forgetful Zoot! I mean, me! Dear Reader(s), Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! And Cheery Festivus! All a little belated, I'm sure. I hope all your various celebrations this past month have been wondrous and wonderful and wild. Party on, rockstar(s).

I think that's about enough of that for now, time for our feature presentation:

Events:

46BC - Julius Caesar (our beloved Roman) defeats Tiberius Labienus in the Battle of Ruspina.

871CE - The Battle of Reading - Ethereld of Wessex fights, and is promptly defeated, by a Danish army invasion.

1490 - Anna of Brittany announces that all who ally themselves with the king of France will be considered guilty of an offence against the dignity of the reigning sovereign of the state, ie. her.

1493 - Christopher Columbus leaves the New World, ending his first journey.

1642 - King Charles I of England commences the slide into civil war by sending soldiers to arrest Parliament. Silly man.

1865 - The New York Stock Exchange opens its first permanent headquarters.

2010 - The Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, opens today!

Births:

1643 - Isaac Newton. Exciting.

1923 - Don Butterfield, an American jazz and classical tuba player.

1963 - Till Lindemann of Rammstein.

Deaths:

1903 - Topsy the elephant. Sad case, that.

And today is also the Eleventh Day of Christmas in Western Christianity. That's neat.

So, I hereby bid you adieu, dear Reader(s). I wish you well, and I shall babble (like a brook, see?) to you later.

P.S. Go watch Avatar.